As I began to hold the bow over the edge and let the rope down, it broke. Again, excitement, but no success for Buzz.Ĭlimbing down from the stand, I attached my bow to the rope Doug had left. All the time, I'm guessing the seven point is going to do the same thing. At one point in the afternoon, I had a nice six point standing broadside about 30 yards away for maybe five minutes or so. It got to be a long afternoon, watching that bull and the others as well as the cows and calves. It wasn't five minutes after Doug left that I spotted a nice seven-point bull elk maybe 300 to 350 yards away.

That afternoon, we set up in a tree stand overlooking a spring. We did some stalking on the bigger bulls, but with no success. We found a couple six points, a few spikes and cows and calves. Jeff made it happen late in the day as he put it all together and arrowed a nice four-point bull.ĭoug suggested we hunt near a spring the next day. On the third day of the hunt Doug and I saw a nice 370 or 380-class bull, but couldn't get close. Got a good charge of adrenaline, but no luck. The second day does not produce many elk for me however, we got to stalk a nice 6x8 muley that I was sure I was going to get a shot at. Jeff and his guide Shane saw two bear and a handful of elk. On returning to our vehicle, we noticed five bulls, including a nice six point. The afternoon hunt featured many elk but nothing special. In the distance we're able to spot a couple of 13 to 14 inch antelope. With no real cover available, we watch as another 40 or so head of elk appear. Doug and I see and stalk a nice five-point mule deer until we see a bull elk walking up to a waterhole.

for breakfast and leave camp by 5:30, which would be our routine for the week. We anxiously looked forward to supper and the chance to talk about hunt strategies.įirst day, up at 4:15 a.m. The weather was hot, 80 degrees and we worried about the week's warm weather and what it would do to the animals. After lunch and packing necessary supplies, we headed to camp. We arrived in White Sulphur Springs on the 7th in time for lunch with Doug and Zita Caltrider, owners of Avalanche Basin Outfitters. Traveling past Jamestown, North Dakota, we noticed the white buffalo - this had to be a good sign for us. Jeff and I left Fargo, North Dakota September 6th traveling west, anticipation building as we talked about past hunts and opportunities that we missed on as well as success on some of those hunts. My partner this time was friend Jeff Baumgartner and the hospitality was still first class with opportunity waiting. This past season I was back in Montana's Big Belt Mountains for another archery hunt. Our target - elk, and you could cut the excitement with a knife! (See At Arm’s Length, Nov/Dec 2000 issue of EBJ). We were back at Avalanche Basin Outfitters in Montana for one of our fall outings. The year was 1999 my brother Scott was my hunting partner. Eastman’s Bowhunting Journal – Vol.7 Issue 38

380 class bull elk